Cheyenne Mountain Stargate Command.
Buried in the Heart of the Mountain In a cluttered office that desperately needed to be cleaned General Jack O'Neill rummaged through his paper work. Requisitioning of supplies, status of off world operations and SG teams as well as reviewing a proposal put forth by the international committee to assign more personnel to the Atlantis mission. However at the moment he was doing his best to ignore the annoying pestering from his best friend Daniel Jackson.
"Come on Jack!" Daniel pleaded "I am the fore most expert on the Ancients on this planet. The Expedition team is going to need my expertise in translating the Ancient language and its dialects."
Gen O'Neill paused from shuffling his paper work on his desk. His face taking on an expression of deep thought before finally answering. "That's precisely why I need you here Daniel." General O'Neill began looking up to meet the eyes of his friend. "You're too important to this program to be gone for any length of time."
They had this argument ever time the issue of Atlantis came up; Daniel insisting to go and O'Neill denying him the opportunity, but O'Neill could always feel his resolve weaken after every argument. His arguments were based on the fact that Daniel was still critical in defending Earth from the Goa'uld, but that argument could only go so far.
Though the Goa'uld were still a threat they weren't the impending doom they once were, largely due to 7yrs of hard work and the recent Jaffa rebellion. However in those moments of blunt and complete honesty; O'Neill knew he kept Daniel around because He'd miss his friend. With Carter soon to be taking over Research and Development at Nellis and Teal'c leaving for Dakara to join the Jaffa council it felt like his he was losing his family.
"Jack the Daedalus will be gone 2 months at most, I'll be back in no time." Daniel persisted, waking O'Neill from his revere.
"No Daniel." Gen. O'Neill said exasperatedly turning his attention back to his paper work with a noticeable grimace.
"Jack…" Daniel began.
"No." Gen. O'Neill ended.
Just as it seemed Daniel was about to continue the Argument a knock came at the Generals door. O'Neill grateful for the distraction shouted. "It's open!"
The door opened to reveal the worried face of LtCol. Samantha Carter as she entered the Generals office.
Perfect timing Carter he thought. "Carter!" Gen. O'Neill shouted enthusiastically. "What's up?"
"Hey Sam." Daniel piped in.
"Hey Daniel." Carter said acknowledging him before turning her full attention to General O'Neill. "Sir the Daedalus is 13hours overdue to check in and we've been unable to raise her for the past hour." Carter reported.
"Ahh weren't they supposed to remain in the system?" Daniel asked.
"Yes." Carter began. "The Daedalus was going to the Asteroid belt to test the effectiveness of her rail guns and missiles. The test was supposed to take 3 hours before returning to Earth.
"Ahh crap." O'Neill winced before rising from his desk. "Why cant these things ever go as planned?" O'Neill asked rhetorically. "So I take it no word from them huh"
"None sir." Cater offered. "We monitored the Daedalus as she entered the asteroid field then we lost her. Several minutes later there was a huge energy surge not far from where she entered the field, then nothing."
"What kind of Energy surge?" Daniel asked from his chair.
"We're not sure." Carter began. "Walter is running it through the base computer trying to find a match."
"Don't hold your breath." O'Neill muttered. "With the way our luck runs it'll probably be something involving saving the world." O'Neill deadpanned.
"What do you want to do sir?" Cater asked.
"How soon can Prometheus be ready?" O'Neill asked.
Carters face took on a blank expression as her mind went over the Status reports she had read earlier that morning. "Prometheus still has another 48hrs work minimal before the new Asgard Sensor Pallets are fully operational. Additionally the Yard master has to certify her space worthy after her latest refit and you know what a pain in the ass that's going to be.
O'Neill shook his head in acknowledgement. Prometheus the technological wonder that she was tended to spend more time in her berth undergoing repairs and refits following every major deployment. Many in the Pentagon had argued it had been due to the flaws in her design rather than the fact she underwent her refits after receiving her Asgard systems. Still; after a lot of pressure the appropriations committee caved in to the demands of the Pentagon and discontinued production of the 303 before it had a chance to get off the ground, in favor of the newer and more heavily armed Daedalus class. Meaning Prometheus was a one of a kind.
"Carter, Contact Prometheus berth and tell them to have the ship ready in 12 hours. I want the 302 squadrons fully up and running as well. Were going to need every ship we have."
"Yes sir." She replied before leaving his office.
O'Neill headed for the door when he stopped suddenly turning to the still sitting Daniel. "Feel like coming?" he asked.
"Sure I've got nothing else to do." Daniel replied.
Both men left the Generals office passing through the briefing room and down the circular flight of stairs arriving at the control room several moments later.
"Sir I just got off the Phone with the Groom Lake facility." Carter began once they arrived in the control room "they're expediting repair work to meet your time frame."
"Well that was quick." O'Neill Muttered offhanded.
"Well when I explained the situation they realized what was at stake." Cater explained.
"Good job Carter." O'Neill praised.
"A plane is being prepped at Peterson air base for me." Cater said.
"Us Carter." O'Neill replied.
"Sir?" Cater asked confused.
"We're going with you Sam." Daniel said before O'Neill could reply.
"Hope you got some bags packed kiddies." O'Neill enthused. "Carter when's our flight?"
"It should be fueling up now sir, another hour." Carter reported.
"Excellent." O'Neill began. "Anything on that Energy surge?" O'Neill asked suddenly shifting gears.
"The computer hasn't been able to find a match sir." Carter reported. "It's a complete unknown"
"Business as usual then." Daniel deadpanned.
"Let's go kiddies." O'Neill said. As he departed the control room Daniel swore he heard Jack singing "we're off to see the wizard the wonderful wizard of oz."
GROOM LAKE FACILITY
PROMETHEUS BERTH 14HRS LATER.
In her Underground Hanger the first Interstellar Battle cruiser of the United States Air Force laid powered down in her berth. Though the Ship was supposed to have launched two hours ago a problem cropped up within the ships sub light drives that needed repair before the ship could launch. Unfortunately for LtCol Samantha Carter it was providing a distraction of a different sort.
"Cater?" O'Neill asked.
"Yes sir?" Carter responded already knowing what the General was going to say.
"We're still on the ground." O'Neill whined.
"Yes sir." She responded.
"Carter?" O'Neill began again.
"Yes sir?" She replied knowingly.
"We're still on the ground." O'Neill repeated.
"Almost finished sir." Carter announced snapping in another Naquada relay. A high pitched whining could briefly be heard before fading into the background from the noise generated from the ships engines. "That should do it." Cater announced triumphantly.
"Engineering this is the Bridge well done Colonel." The Voice of Col. Pentergast said over the loudspeaker.
"Thank you sir." Cater responded into the Net.
Both Officers departed Engineering through the maze of corridors before ending up on the Bridge just as the crew was going through their final preflight checklists.
"Sub light Thrusters powered up and idle."
"Antigrav wave generators on standby.
"Switching to internal life support."
"Main reactor powering up to full.
"Secondary generators at nominal generation."
"Inertial Dampener and Shields set to maximum."
The Calm voice of Major Gant could be heard by both O'Neill and Carter as they entered the Bridge.
Realizing that both General O'Neill and LtCol. Carter had entered the Bridge Col. Pendergast Rose from his chair and assumed a respectful stance before addressing the General.
"General we're clear to depart." Col. Pendergast reported.
"Excellent!" O'Neill exclaimed clasping his hands together. "Let's get this show on the road."
"Yes sir." Col. Pendergast replied. "Major set inertial compensators and Shields to maximum, Initiate Launch sequence." Col. Pendergast ordered.
The Docking clamps holding Prometheus in placed released their grip on the mammoth ship just as the overhead bay doors began to retract themselves. Once opened the antigravity wave generators aboard Prometheus slowly propelled the ship upward out of her berth. Once clear she hovered 50 ft above the ground for several seconds silent as a ghost before her twin sub light drives ignited propelling the ship upward toward the atmosphere and Earth orbit.
"We've reached standard orbit sir." Major Gant reported once Prometheus cleared the Atmosphere.
"Very Good Major." Pendergast began "What's the status of our fighters?"
"Snake Eater and Goa'uld buster squadrons are exiting the Ionosphere now sir." Major Gant reported from her station.
"Excellent." Col. Pendergast said. "Major plot a small hyperspace jump to Daedalus's last known coordinates then feed them to our fighters."
"Executing now sir." Major Gant responded manipulating her controls.
The F 302's of Snake Eater and Goa'uld buster squadrons closed in a tight formation with Prometheus the Larger ships engine nacelles growing bright for a few seconds before thrusting the Ship and her Fighter escort in to Hyperspace and returning them to normal space 5000km from Daedalus's last known position.
"We have arrived at the designated coordinates." Major Gant announced.
"Major deploy the fighters ahead of the ship." Col. Pendergast ordered "begin Radar sweep of the area."
"Yes sir."
Though the yardmaster had reluctantly certified Prometheus as space worthy for her mission the rush to get her out ahead of schedule meant all her systems hadn't been fully tested to specs. The yard master had argued that when new equipment was installed particularly advanced alien equipment major testing and retooling of the ships current systems were paramount in preventing any "gremlins" from cropping up. However fearing that the Daedalus crew might be in jeopardy the yard master decided to forgo major testing hoping that the advanced alien systems didn't act up, or Earth would be down both battle cruisers.
The Search and Rescue operation was heading in to its second hour; with the F-302s and Prometheus slowly prowling the asteroid field searching for the lost ship. Full Radar sweeps of any given search zone were problematic as the mass of stellar debris cluttered the scope beyond 500km and sometimes as much as 1400meters. Realizing the search was moving far too slowly Col. Pendergast reluctantly decided to go active with the untested Asgard sensors. Although the sensors performed flawlessly on the Daedalus, Prometheus was an Entirely different ship suffering from the drawback that the sensors were never integrated into her design unlike her sister ship, but rather "tacked on after the fact" as LtCol. Carter had described. Col. Pendergast was worried how the new sensors might perform, hoping they didn't burn out the entire sensor array.
"Col. I'm reading a faint contact 60,000km dead astern." Major Gant reported.
"What search zone?" Col. Pendergast inquired.
"Search zone 11 Charlie sir." Major Gant reported. "We must have pasted right by it."
"How comes the Radar didn't pick it up?" Gen. O'Neill spoke up for the first time in 2 hours.
"Unknown sir." Major Gant responded.
"Well it's the only lead we've had in 2 hours." Col. Pendergast surmised. "Major plot a course best speed."
"Yes sir." Major Gant replied.
Prometheus came about on a direct heading for the faint contact ahead of the ship, Snake Eater and Goa'uld buster squadrons abandoned their search zones in favor of rendezvousing with Prometheus as they investigated this new development. A short time later the asteroid field cleared revealing a large area of open space.
"Major?" Col. Pendergast asked slightly confused.
"The Contact is dead ahead sir. 4000km distance." Major Gant reported. "It's definitely firming up."
"No trouble with the scanners Major?" the Colonel wanted to confirm.
"Asgard sensors are working as advertised sir." Major Gant assured.
Prometheus closed the distance cautiously with her fighters acting as a forward screen in case of potential trouble. On board the ship the object was just now coming into visual range and what the bridge crew saw stunned them.
"Carter?" General O'Neill began. "What is that?"
"I have no idea sir." LtCol. Carter responded dumbfounded. "It bears some resemblance to a Stargate but it's still quite different in appearance."
"Look at the size of that thing!" O'Neill exclaimed. "It's huge!"
"What ever it is Our Radar can't detect it." Major Gant reported. "I'm only able to read the…object with the Asgard sensors.
"Is it possible the Daedalus stumbled onto this thing?" Daniel asked.
"It's very possible." Carter speculated. "They're testing zone wasn't that far away. My guess is they detected something on their Asgard scanners and went to investigate."
"Which would have lead the here." Daniel said finishing her line of thought.
"More than likely." Carter confirmed.
"So it's a …Stargate?" O'Neill asked sheepishly.
"Well sir that's a little hard to tell at the moment." Carter began as she hunched over Major Gants display. "We'll need to take some scans to get a better idea of what we're dealing with."
"Sam is that writing on the Object." Daniel asked moving closer to the forward viewer totally absorbed in the view.
"Magnifying." Major Gant responded from her station. Just above the main view port the ships main monitor zoomed in on a section of the device revealing some form of script. Daniel Jackson spent several quite moments studying the script on the surface of the device.
"You recognize it Daniel?" LtCol. Carter asked from Major Gants station.
"Well I can't be sure at a first glance but it appears to be a dialect of Ancient." Daniel responded after a few moments of thought.
"So..?" Gen. O'Neill began
"Jack we're looking at something constructed by the Ancients!" Daniel exclaimed excitedly, more confident in his early assessment.
"So what's it doing here?' General O'Neill asked. "More importantly "why" is it here?"
"I don't know." Daniel said absently, still riveted to the device.
"Oh for crying out loud!" O'Neill muttered to himself.
"Sir I'm reading a massive energy build up in the device!" Major Gant announced suddenly. "Energy is continually building at an exponential rate."
"Colonel." LtCol. Carter said directing her attention to Col. Pendergast. "The device may be preparing to engage its primary function."
"This means boys and girls!" O'Neill announced for everyone to hear "That we need to be somewhere other than here."
Col. Pendergast didn't need a second thought on the matter. Unknown alien devices powering up for no reason for an unspecified purpose typically didn't bode well for the unlucky sap that happened to come across it. "Major Gant get us clear of that thing and have our fighters hightail it with us." Col. Pendergast ordered.
"Already on it Colonel." Major Gant announced.
Prometheus and her escort wing of F-302s pulled back a respectful distance from the device. Once Col. Pendergast was confident they were in the clear Prometheus slowed to station keeping speed her powerful sensor array recording every ounce of data possible.
On the device 4 points of blue energy on either side of the Oval structure grew brighter in intensity, the inner oval of the device glowing as well before the energy cascaded on itself creating the appearance of a rippling pool of water.
"Just like a stargate…" Samantha Carter muttered to herself totally transfixed by the site before her.
The entire Bridge crew of Prometheus looked on in total wonder at the device. The blue light radiating from the event horizon showering the bridge in a hue of blue light; however what emerged from the device turned their feelings of wonder and excitement to one of sheer dread.
A massive ship unlike anything they had ever seen before emerged from the Event Horizon. The Massive ship was many times the size of the tiny Prometheus and had an odd Tri-wing design that didn't seem to follow any particular design philosophy O'Neill could recognize…as if the ship was a mix of several different tech bases. Its shear size and big honkin space guns spoke of a pure ship killer with incredible power, and O'Neill didn't want to guess what Prometheus's odds were if they had to face that monstrosity. Slowly as the giant ship bore down of the Tiny Prometheus O'Neill let loose a small muttered curse felt by the entire crew.
"Oh crap."
